Through three weeks, viewership for national telecasts of NFL games is down 11 percent this season compared to 2016, the Nielsen company said on Tuesday.

Nielsen said the games averaged 17.63 million viewers for the first three weeks of last season, and have dipped to 15.77 million this year. The 2017 figures don't include this week's Monday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals.

The Nielsen figures also don't include many of the Sunday afternoon games that are shown to a regional audience, but not a national one.

The NFL ratings are in focus because of President Donald Trump's suggestion that viewers are turned off by a protest against police brutality that began with quarterback Colin Kaepernick refusing to stand for the national anthem. The protests spread rapidly this past weekend following the president's criticism of people involved.

Next week's ratings will be even more closely watched, since conservative groups and Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity have called for people angered by the protests to boycott this weekend's games.

Meanwhile, Round One of the new ideological battle on cable television news went to Hannity, who has moved to a time slot directly competing with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Nielsen said Hannity had 3.27 million viewers on Monday, compared to 2.66 million for Maddow. CNN, which showed a special health care debate at the same hour, had 1.45 million viewers.

The end of summer has to be sad for NBC, which has dominated in network ratings due to the success of "America's Got Talent." The show's finale last week was seen by 15.6 million viewers, its biggest audience for a season-ender since 2010.

CBS usually dominates the ratings from September to May, but NBC has won 12 of the last 14 weeks due to the leadership of "America's Got Talent."

For the week, NBC averaged 7.8 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 6.2 million, ABC had 4.2 million, Fox had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Telemundo had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.3 million and the CW had 910,000.

ESPN was the week's most popular cable network, averaging 2.48 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.08 million, MSNBC had 1.62 million, USA had 1.5 million and HGTV had 1.24 million.

ABC's "World News Tonight" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" was second with 8.2 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.6 million.

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox. NBC and Telemundo are owned by Comcast Corp. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks.

A former star of the 1980s television show "The Dukes of Hazzard" who's accused of groping a female cast member of a musical he was supposed to appear in now faces charges he indecently assaulted a 16-year-old girl in Massachusetts.

Court records show Tom Wopat is charged with assaulting the girl and a woman in July while rehearsing for the musical "42nd Street" at the Waltham-based Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston. The Boston Globe reports the charges were made public Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, due to unexpected medical issues, lead singer, Steven Tyler, is seeking immediate care and has been advised by his doctors that he cannot travel or perform at this time," the news release reads.

Eighty-three shows on the calendar, talent coming in from over 20 countries and jet-setting celebrities flocking into the French capital can only mean one thing: It's time for Paris Fashion Week.

Here are the highlights of the ready-to-wear spring-summer 2018 collections Tuesday in the City of Light.

DIOR'S SIXTIES GIRL POWER

Delving into the Dior archives, designer Maria Grazia Chiuri came back armed with photos of sculptress Niki de Saint Phalle — one of the few successful female artists in the male-dominated 1960s' art world and a muse for then-Dior designer Marc Bohan.

The inspiration of this artistic trailblazer spawned Tuesday's Dior collection at Paris Fashion Week: the Sixties fused with the spirit of women's lib.

Saint Phalle's colorful sculptures were evoked in a series of color-blocked, architectural "scuba" looks in cobalt blue, black, white and yellow — shapes tight around the body in the '60s style.

Still, it was a mixed bag at Dior, with some overly busy silhouettes — victims perhaps of Chiuri's overly-busy archive references. Ensembles with multiple layers, sheer sections on skirts, contrasting fabrics and fastidious detailing on appliques were sometimes a little distracting.

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NAOMI WATTS, THE FEMINIST

Bianca Jagger, Eva Herzigova, Alexa Chung and Natalia Vodianova all drew plenty of photographers as they entered Dior's show Tuesday at Rodin Museum. But it was the tardy Naomi Watts who drew the most attention in an embellished Dior lace bodice dress with semi-sheer tulle pleats.

The 48-year-old actress was very on-message with Dior's feminist vibe while talking to The Associated Press.

"It's a very good time for women, I feel. It's about going out there and getting it," Watts said.

The star of this year's "Twin Peaks" reboot was seated next to a copy of feminist historian Linda Nochlin's pioneering 1971 article "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" that was provided thoughtfully by the house.

There has been a marked shift in celebrating feminism since Chiuri last year became Dior's first female designer.

"Absolutely, it's important to have female designers. No one knows the female anatomy out there more than a woman. It's exciting to see Maria Grazia's new show," Watts said.

But Watts, who's had a busy schedule of late with roles in the series "Gypsy" as well as the David Lynch reboot, was also in Paris to relax.

"I'm here with my friends. We're here to enjoy the city. Enjoy the clothes. Enjoy the whole experience," she said.

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SAINT LAURENT'S EIFFEL TOWER VIEW

A smoke machine spewed out cloudy plumes across the gargantuan metal platform above the Trocadero gardens, created by Saint Laurent for its spring-summer collection.

As the Eiffel Tower glimmered in the background imposingly, and hypnotic music boomed, models filed by in revealing mini-dresses, shaggy boots and lashings of dark sparkle.

The '80s was in the air.

Loose silhouettes, tassel detailing and cuffed boots fused with high ruffle necks and capes in shimmering blacks and flashes of purple, pink and blue.

There was a distinct whiff of the TV series "Dallas" in some looks that incorporated big brown belts, black lacing, boots that evoked chaps, and black waistcoat-shaped tops. At times, they were a little heavy-handed.

But the creative climax came toward the end of the exhaustive 90-piece show — when Vaccarello left behind the '80s exploration and went abstract to explore shapes with an upward movement.

The piece de resistance: A skintight sheer black lace mini-dress with a giant black ruffled disc that wrapped around the model's waist artfully like an angry cloud.

"It's gorgeous. It's really stunning what he's done," she said, before rushing off to meet Vaccarello back stage.

Other VIP attendees, who were granted a front row seat, included Kate Moss, Lenny Kravitz, Chloe Sevigny and Courtney Love.

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JACQUEMUS' ODE TO HIS MOTHER

It was a love story in homage to a glamorous mother.

In a show brimming with joy, 27-year-old French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus dedicated his retro spring-summer 2018 collection to the style of his late mother, who died a decade ago.

Her death hit while he was a teenager and spurned him on to launch his own fashion house at the tender age of 20. He named it Jacquemus — her maiden name.

In Monday's collection in the grand Picasso Museum, clothes exuded elegant sexual confidence and riffed on beach styles from the 1950s. A retro off-white bodice top sported large black polka dots against a surreally oversized straw sun hat with a stylish curl at one side.

Indeed, deceptively-simple curls, twists, drapes and gatherings in the fabric were ubiquitous in the thoughtful clothes, betraying a real skill in construction.

With a floppy oversize cuff detail, a diaphanous skirt in pale yellow that was draped on the diagonal evoked a shirt his mother might have tied loosely around her waist.

Hips were emphasized in tonal dresses that were gathered from the midriff or in loosely slung sarong-styles. Retro micro handbags looked like the playthings a child might have to emulate their mother.

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ANREALAGE'S STRAPS

It was an extravaganza in pastel — ruched, gathered and bound.

The fashion-forward house of Tokyo designer Kunihiko Morinaga has built up a huge fan base in Japan for its intellectual designs and original use of techno-fabrics. This was on full display Tuesday as Morinaga used strapping, in tonal or contrasting colors, to bind loose silhouettes to the models' body.

It began with the baroque — billowing sleeves and high collars on silken fabric dresses in exaggerated proportions — and the occasional jumpsuit. They were, of course, paired with on-trend white banded sneakers.

At times, crisscross strapping evoked an almost kinky, exo-skeleton restraining the body— such as in a peach, knee-length dress with a gray lattice exterior.

The show was highly original.

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PINK TREND ALERT

The color pink has — so far — been heralded as the color of the season.

But fashion editors generally agree that Paris Fashion Week has the ultimate say in what going to be a trend, so all eyes are on the French capital's runway collections to see if this continues.

On the first day of shows in Paris, pink made a moderate splash.

A pink pastel ruched gown opened the collection for Anrealage with gowns that continued in pastel shades with a dash of fuchsia.

And one of Dior's nicest looks was a floor-length baby pink sheer silk gown tied at the waist with a pink bow.

ABC's "World News Tonight" with David Muir has dethroned NBC and finished the television season as the year's most-watched evening newscast for the first time in 21 years, since the late Peter Jennings was anchor.

While network evening newscasts have diminished in influence over the years and morning shows make more money, they still collectively reach 23 million viewers each weeknight and are considered the flagship broadcasts of news divisions. Bragging rights are eagerly sought.

"One has to recognize the breaking of one of the great streaks in television," said James Goldston, ABC News president. Muir and his team "worked immensely hard to do that, and they've done it in an extraordinary period of news."

For the year, "World News Tonight" averaged 8.25 million viewers, while NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.17 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.56 million, according to the Nielsen company. For statistical purposes, television marks its year by the start of a new season of broadcast programs in September.

Like much in television, the programs aren't a growth industry. ABC moved in front by essentially staying even from the previous two years while its rivals lost viewers.

NBC touted its victory among the 25-to-54-year-old demographic, the statistic primarily used as a basis for advertising sales in news. NBC News ran a full-page newspaper advertisement boasting that it was No. 1 for the second season in a row with "Nightly News," the "Today" show, "Dateline NBC" and "Meet the Press." The small print noted they were wins among specific demographic categories, not among all viewers.

For the evening newscasts, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said he wouldn't trade places with his ABC counterparts.

"If you are going to go by the quality of the broadcast, ours is superior," he said. "If you're going to go by business measurements, we're winning in the only category that matters."

Goldston said he wasn't going to dismiss the large number of viewers not included in that category. "We want to be America's favorite news show," he said.

"In a world consumed by social media and fake news, people are thirsting to get a straightforward account of what happened that day," he said. "I think 'World News Tonight' does that better than anybody."

What's most important is building on the victory, he said. ABC's "Good Morning America" ended a long victory streak by "Today" earlier in this decade, and hasn't relinquished that lead since.

There's some question about whether NBC's Lester Holt, who has traveled to Puerto Rico to anchor "Nightly News" from the hurricane-ravaged territory this week, may be hurt by association with one of NBC News' biggest success. MSNBC and its left-leaning prime-time lineup has been a huge hit in the Age of Trump. Do some of the president's supporters who don't like MSNBC take it out on people at NBC News?

"It's absolutely possible," said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative watchdog Media Research Center. Oppenheim said the audience is sophisticated enough to know the difference between the products, just like The New York Times has separate opinion pages and news pages.

CBS, whose evening newscast is in transition with Anthony Mason as interim anchor, instead looked to the morning to tout accomplishments. "CBS This Morning," while still in third place, is more competitive with ABC and NBC at that time of day than the network ever has been.

Its rivals, meanwhile, bleed viewers. "Good Morning America" averages 4.4 million viewers, but is down from 5.5 million four years ago. "Today" has dropped from 4.9 million to 4.2 million in the same time frame. Meanwhile, CBS has gained audience in that time from, going from 3 million viewers in 2013-14 to just under 3.6 million now.

Jenner is reportedly expecting her first child with boyfriend Travis Scott, and TMZ reports the couple will welcome a baby girl.

Citing unnamed “sources directly connected with the couple” and “family sources,” the report says Scott has been privately telling friends about the baby and its sex, and the tabloid reports that Jenner is about five months along.

Jenner’s half-sister, Kim Kardashian West, and her husband, Kanye West, are expecting their third child, a girl, via surrogate in January.

As previously reported by Rare.us, sources say the pair are shelling out quite a sum for the surrogacy: “The couple have reportedly agreed to pay $45,000 in 10 installments of $4,500, according to a previous TMZ report. They have also agreed to pay $5,000 per additional child in the case of multiples. The couple has already paid a $68,850 deposit to the agency.”

If the rumored timelines are true, Jenner’s baby would be due around the same time.